New BJW & DDT! Japanese Indies Everywhere!

2014/5/31


1. The Brahmans (Shu & Kei) vs. Yuichi Taniguchi & Takayuki Ueki

Lots and lots of water, yelling and big whackiness in general.

**1/2


3. Ikkitousen 2014 ~ Strong Climb ~ Block B: Shinobu vs. Manabu Soya

Short, organic, compact. I’m not a Soya fan, but Shinobu is just a perfect foil for him, the styles meshed very well. Killer finish, brutal stuff.

***1/2


4. Daisuke Sekimoto, Kazuki Hashimoto, Hideyoshi Kamitani vs. Ryuichi Kawakami, Atsushi Maruyama, Masato Inaba

Clipped, but the essence was preserved, thankfully. These Strong BJ 6-man tags from Korakuen never disappoint, this was a short ‘n’ sweet sprint with a VERY surprising finish that had the crowd going bonkers.

***1/2


5. LIGHTTUBE DEATHMATCH: Kankuro Hoshino & Masaya Takahashi vs. Ryuji Ito & Jaki Numazawa

As long as there are people like Ito and Numazawa, pro-wrestling will never die. I dislike Hoshino, but didn’t mind him here at all, and Masaya should be a deathmatch future if he sticks with the genre. Good match.

***1/4


6. Ikkitousen 2014 ~ Strong Climb ~ Block A: Shiori Asahi vs. Shinya Ishikawa

Just as good as their title match from March, Asahi is awesome as a subtle heel not afraid to cheat his way to the victory. Nice matwork and striking, and based on their respective movesets and also the previous match, there’s this lucha sense that the match can end at almost any time.

***1/2


7. BJW Tag Team Championship: Twin Towers (Kohei Sato & Shuji Ishikawa) vs. Yankee Nichokenju (Yuko Miyamoto & Isami Kodaka) ©

So, fuck yes, after months of mauling and crushing through the Strong BJ roster, Kohei and Shuji have earned themselves a title match against the much smaller champions. The story writes itself, it’s quite simple, actually, power vs. speed, behemoths vs. daredevils, and these guys are too good not to make it work. Great match with a proper result.

****


Very good, enjoyable show, even with the thin deathmatch scene Big Japan manages to pull it through because their Strong Division is amazing.







King of DDT 2014 - Osaka

(2014/6/15)


3. King of DDT 2014 – Round 2: Antonio Honda vs. Shigehiro Irie

Honda might be the most underrated and overlooked indie wrestler in the world. It’s just incredible how easily he shifts his character and personality in matches with high stakes (remember dat Togo title match? remember dat Dino title match?), he leaves the comedy aside and is all about business, he’s so damn good as a serious wrestler. But is it enough to overcome the super motivated Irie, who’s on the rampage to win the tournament and regain the belt? The match contains great storytelling and impeccable selling.

***3/4


4. King of DDT 2014 – Round 2: Tomomitsu Matsunaga vs. KUDO

Unfortunately, I can’t rate this, since they only aired 6 out of 16 minutes. :( But, I was able to grasp the story and intentions, and it was awesome, Matsunaga going all in, catching KUDO off guard and hitting three big moves on him within three minutes, but KUDO is one tough fucker on the path of regaining the belt, he ain’t going down just like that. Who’s got more left in the tank? I hope we stumble upon a full version one day.

N/A


6. King of DDT 2014 – Round 2: Kota Ibushi vs. Masa Takanashi

Masa is wonderful at playing his character, he’s a major underdog here, reluctant to even enter the ring before the match, but hey, every dog has its day, amirite? All it takes is one hiccup by Ibushi.

***1/2


7. King of DDT 2014 – Round 2: Isami Kodaka vs. Konosuke Takeshita

Takeshita’s bigger and stronger than Kodaka, but he’s still a young lion, and his opponent it, well, Kodaka, a seasoned deathmatch veteran who took ungodly amounts of horrific punishment throughout his career, so no matter how hard Takeshita tried to hit or suplex him, it doesn’t match lighttubes or boards of nails. The match had its minor problems, but the good stuff outweighed it by a country mile, especially the SICK finish.

***1/2